Mayor Boycotts Sam Adams Beer After Co-Founder Praises Trump
Mia Cox
Updated on March 17, 2026
A Massachusetts mayor has said he will no longer drink Sam Adams beer after the company’s co-founder Jim Koch commended President Donald Trump’s tax reforms.
“I will never drink Sam Adam’s beer again!” tweeted Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone following a report from the Boston Business Journal that outlined Koch’s comments to Trump.
Koch was among 13 business executives who met with Trump on Aug. 7 at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., the Journal reports.
According to a White House transcript of the meeting, Koch told Trump the Republican tax cut has helped his business.
“When I started Sam Adams, American beer was a joke, and it pissed me off. And now, American brewers make the best beer in the world,” Koch said. “And the tax reform was a very big deal for all of us, because 85% of the beer made in the United States is owned by foreign companies.”
Trump replied: “That’s right.”
Koch continued: “I mean, Americans — I’m the largest American-owned brewery at 2% market share. We were paying 38% taxes and competing against people who were paying 20. And now we have a level playing field, and we’re going to kick their ass.”
Trump told Koch he’s “done a great job.”
Upon hearing about the exchange, Curtatone, a Democrat, condemned Koch’s comments.
“We need to hold these complicit profiteers of Trump’s white nationalist agenda accountable,” Curtatone tweeted.
He followed up with a direct address to Koch about the parents and children split apart under Trump’s family separation policy.
“While you were thanking Trump for your tax break, did you happen to express any concern for the families separated under his cruel and inhumane immigration enforcement policy?” Curtatone asked.
Hey Jim Koch! While you were thanking Trump for your tax break, did you happen to express any concern for the families separated under his cruel and inhumane immigration enforcement policy? @SamuelAdamsBeer
— Joseph A. Curtatone (@JoeCurtatone) August 12, 2018
Boston Beer Company, which brews Sam Adams beer, did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment.
